Tuesday, March 7, 2017

Colleges across the country are failing to keep up with a troubling spike in demand for mental health care — leaving students stuck on waiting lists for weeks, unable to get help.

STAT surveyed dozens of universities about their mental health services. From major public institutions to small elite colleges, a striking pattern emerged: Students often have to wait weeks just for an initial intake exam to review their symptoms. The wait to see a psychiatrist who can prescribe or adjust medication — often a part-time employee — may be longer still.

Students on many campuses are so frustrated that they launched a petition last month demanding expanded services. They plan to send it to 20 top universities, including Harvard, Princeton, Yale, MIT, and Columbia, where seven students have died this school year from suicide and suspected drug overdose.

"Students are turned away every day from receiving the treatment they need, and multiple suicide attempts and deaths go virtually ignored each semester," the petition reads. More than 700 people have signed; many have left comments about their personal experiences trying to get counseling at college. "I'm signing because if a kid in crisis needs help they should not have to wait," one wrote.